Wednesday, April 22, 2015

In 1945-46 five families
came to Manitowish Waters to start cranberry marshes.Vern Goldsworthy found the land suitable for
cranberries – acid soil and alkaline water supplied from Little Trout
Lake.The five families were Howard
& Mary Folsom, Herbert & Florence Indermuehl, Delbert & Myrtle
Bartling, John & June McFarland and Frank & Betty Koller.The town did not welcome us.The land was in forestry, where no one could
live year-round.

We had together changed
the land into agriculture.There was no
telephone or electric.To get our
weather reports, Ehlerts Market would get them, and then we would get them
there.After a few years the
growers hung wires for both utilities.We had to get to the marsh from Powell Road as there was no way to cross
the Rice or Trout Rivers.There was a
road we could park in, it had once been a camp.First one in had to be last one out.Everything had to be brought in by wheel barrow, stoneboats, or any
other means that you could carry with.Some
years later, the growers had a culvert put in so we could get to the marsh down
Hwy 51.

We had to get roads into
each marsh.The growers had very little
equipment that they shared with each other.We all dug the ditches into Trout Lake and individual marshes with a
hired drag line by hand.

Janelle:Today is Tuesday, February 24, 2015.Thank you John for allowing us to interview you for information on
Manitowish Waters history of the cranberry business.

John- I will do my best to remember.My family was one ofthe earliest families in the cranberry business in Manitowish Waters.

Janelle:When
and Where were you born?

John:Madison, WI 1938 9-25.I am 76.

We did not live there for long, my mom and dad lived there
for a bit but I was only 2 1/2 when we moved and have no memoryof living there.In 1941 they moved to Minneapolis and my dad worked at Honeywell for the
duration of the war.In 1945 after the
war my dad quit his job and helpedmy maternal
step-grandfather, Guy Potter a cranberry grower from theTomah area, who married my grandmother during the war, search for
a suitable cranberry location in northern Wisconsin.Guy got to know my parents and told them that
when the war was ended he knew a group of people that wanted to join the
cranberry business and he told my folks that if they were interested he would also
help them get started in thecranberry business.
So after the war ended my dad quit his job and my grandfather arranged for my
dad to get some construction jobs down in the Tomah area in order to learn how
to operate heavy equipment.

Saturday, April 26, 2014

Please enjoy a photo collage from Alderwood Lodge. Floyd Christensen is pictured to the left and was the owner around 1948. The images of the lodge itself date from around 1940. The resort passed to the Bartling family in 1980.

Saturday, April 27, 2013

Although the last week has seen a good six inches of fresh snow in the Northwoods, today plants are edging their uncertain leaves above the ground. The forecast promises 70 degrees. After one of the coldest Aprils on record, everyone is ready!

I confess I appreciated winter's relentless grip. It reminds us that we are still at the mercy of "Mother Nature." It reminds us that, after the absurd warmth of last spring, climate change is wreaking havoc with our seasons and our world. It reminds us that there is something larger and more important than our immediate human pleasure.

Such weighty matters aside, spring is the time of year when we in the Northwoods dust off our shelves and put out our welcome mats! And that means it is blog season. Expect to hear more Northwoods history soon, and in the meanwhile, think if you have any stories to share!